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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Restoring The American Dream

A recent reading of Robert Ringer’s “Restoring the American
Dream” got me to thinking about what I really want from a government. In a vein not unlike Ayn Rand’s thinking, I believe
that governmental functions should boil down to three high level elements:

Provide for the protection of the lives and
property of citizens

Provide for a system of arbitrating contractual
disputes

Provide for a national defense

These three elements form the foundation of real freedom, although
not a free lunch, for all of a government’s citizens. If this foundation is deemed reasonable, then what steps can
we take to rebuild our government upon that foundation?Ringer suggests eight steps that I believe
are worthy of serious debate.

Political leaders should be held to one term and
only one term.

Income taxes should be phased out completely for
all citizens over the next 25 years or so.

No new money programs beyond current level
replacement spending should be allowed.
Eliminating deficits eliminates the need for money supply inflation.

Redistribution of wealth functions need to be eliminated;
some in the short term and some over the long term. This includes the elimination of many
governmental services which should become part of the non-governmental economy
over a sufficiently lengthy window of time.

Supply and demand should be allowed to rein.

Most governmental property should be sold and
the proceeds used to pay off the national debt.
Did you know that the Government owns approximately 30% of all our Nation’s
land including 98% of Alaska and 86% of Nevada?

Repeal all victim-less crime laws and release
and pardon those currently imprisoned for the same.

Stop interference in the affairs of other
nations; including foreign aid spending.

If the above doesn’t stoke some powerful thinking, try these nuggets:

Property rights and human rights cannot be
separated

Capitalism has not failed, rather capitalism
burdened by government intervention has failed

Forced equality means a loss of freedom by
definition

Equal opportunity and equality are two very different
things

To close for now, ponder Thoreau’s words “that government is
best which governs not at all”.